1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to medical assistance; requiring the 
  1.3             commissioner of human services to establish a home 
  1.4             telemedicine demonstration project. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [HOME TELEMEDICINE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.] 
  1.7      Subdivision 1.  [PROJECT ESTABLISHED.] The commissioner of 
  1.8   human services shall implement a medical assistance 
  1.9   demonstration project using telemedicine devices to monitor 
  1.10  recipients in their own homes as an alternative to hospital 
  1.11  care, nursing home care, or home nursing visits.  The devices 
  1.12  must:  (1) be capable of providing video and audio communication 
  1.13  between the recipient's home and a central monitoring station 
  1.14  using regular telephone lines and (2) be equipped to monitor 
  1.15  blood pressure, heart rate, and other vital signs.  The central 
  1.16  monitoring station must be staffed by a nurse.  The project must 
  1.17  be budget-neutral or result in a net state savings.  
  1.18     Subd. 2.  [OBJECTIVES.] The objective of the demonstration 
  1.19  project is to determine if home telemedicine services can be a 
  1.20  high quality, lower cost alternative to in-person home visits 
  1.21  from nurses or other health care personnel.  The project may 
  1.22  serve acute care patients, including patients who need home care 
  1.23  following hospital stays; chronic care patients, including 
  1.24  patients identified as high users of health care services and 
  1.25  high functioning former nursing facility residents or persons at 
  2.1   risk of nursing home placement; and other persons identified by 
  2.2   the commissioner as likely to be served in a cost-effective 
  2.3   manner under the project.  
  2.4      Subd. 3.  [TIMELINES.] The commissioner shall publish a 
  2.5   request for proposals for the demonstration project by August 
  2.6   31, 1996, and must implement the project by December 1, 1996. 
  2.7      Subd. 4.  [REPORT.] The commissioner must report to the 
  2.8   legislature by March 15, 1997, the preliminary results of the 
  2.9   demonstration project, including a recommendation on expansion 
  2.10  of the project and a recommendation on whether home telemedicine 
  2.11  services should be made a medical assistance reimbursable 
  2.12  service.  The commissioner must issue a final report to the 
  2.13  legislature by December 15, 1997.  The report must include 
  2.14  information on whether the project improved patient access to 
  2.15  care by eliminating or reducing nursing personnel travel time; 
  2.16  reduced emergency room visits; reduced unnecessary 
  2.17  hospitalizations; enabled the expansion of home IV therapy; and 
  2.18  reduced nursing home admissions or resulted in nursing home 
  2.19  discharges.